Bruins weaker without Iginla, but still a force in the East

Wednesday

Jul 2, 2014 at 11:35 PMJul 2, 2014 at 11:41 PM

The Bruins lost much when they couldn't retain free agent Jarome Iginla, but with few Eastern Conference teams making major gains via trades or free agency, the B's are probably still the team to beat in the East next season.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

His departure weakens the Bruins, but we come not to bury Jarome Iginla. In fact, it might be kind of hard not to root for him as he pursues a Stanley Cup in Colorado.

We question his judgment, though.

Granted, the 37-year-old future Hall of Famer would have had to practically play for pennies to stay in Boston and, because the B’s have so many expensive contracts on the books and in their future, there aren’t even many of them to spread around. For Iginla to jump at a three-year, $16-million offer from the Avalanche, therefore, makes sense.

If the main idea is to win the Cup, though, Iginla should have stayed in the Eastern Conference, instead of heading west. And if Bruins fans need a positive or optimistic way to spin the loss of the player who led the team in goals during the regular season (30, tied with Patrice Bergeron) and playoffs, it’s this: At least Iginla didn’t land with one of the few contenders in the East.

A return to Pittsburgh was probably out of the question, since that didn’t work out in 2013, and the Pens are now experiencing a makeover. But Tampa Bay was rumored to be interested in Iginla and plenty of 2014 playoff qualifiers in the East (yes, including the Bruins) could have used his services in the coming year.

When all is said and done (which may not be the case at this point), the B’s aren’t a better team than they were when they lost in Round 2 to Montreal, but they’re probably just as viable a contender for the conference title as ever.

You still won’t beat the Bruins’ defense, which retains the NHL’s No. 1 defensive forward (Bergeron), Vezina Trophy-winning goalie (Tuukka Rask) and a dominating shut-down defenseman (Zdeno Chara) who’ll be rejoined next season by veteran Dennis Seidenberg. And yes, the B’s do lose Iginla’s 30 goals, but hardly any others: Andrej Meszaros (2) and Shawn Thornton (1) are the only other skaters who left.

But as much, or even more than that, there’s the fact that the Eastern Conference is such a comparatively weak sister to the West.

The conference champion Rangers won’t be the same because the additions of veteran defenseman Dan Boyle and forward Tanner Glass don’t cover the losses of defenseman Anton Stralman and forwards Benoit Pouliot and Brian Boyle (Hingham). The Canadiens were busy trading for and signing new players (forwards P.A. Parenteau and Manny Malhotra, defenseman Tom Gilbert), but they also gave up experience, character and leadership: Captain Brian Gionta, defenseman Josh Gorges, sniper Tomas Vanek and Daniel Briere are all gone.

The Penguins, thought to be a dynasty in the making after their 2009 Cup win, are breaking things up under new management: Top 6 forwards James Neal and Jussi Jokinen and Top 4 defenseman Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen are now out of the picture. In their places are defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and forward Patric Hornqvist.

Elsewhere, the Red Wings, like the B’s, pretty much stood pat, the Maple Leafs seemed to go sideways, at best, the Senators are apparently committed to rebuilding (trading No. 1 center Jason Spezza is proof), and while the Sabres (Gionta, Gorges, Matt Moulson, Cody McCormick and short-time Bruin Andrej Meszaros) and Panthers (Jokinen, ex-Bruin Shawn Thornton and other recent Cup winners like Dave Bolland and Willie Mitchell) both added many proven players, they were so far out of the picture last season (Florida 29th, Buffalo dead-last 30th), they still have a ways to go to be considered a threat.

Not that there aren’t teams to watch. Tampa Bay, which re-signed Ryan Callahan and added Stralman and Hingham’s Boyle, comes to mind.

But in the grand scheme of things, the Bruins (117 points last year) probably haven’t taken a giant step back toward the pack after blowing away the Atlantic Division (the Lightning trailed by 16 points) and pulling away from Pittsburgh (109) to lead the conference.

Iginla definitely joined an up-and-coming team in Denver, but the Wild (they added Vanek) can make the same claim, and the pre-existing list of legitimate contenders in the West – Los Angeles and Chicago, which have won four of the last five Cups, plus Anaheim and St. Louis – is long, deep and murderous.

In short, Iginla could have picked a better landing spot. Meanwhile, the Bruins certainly have a couple of holes to fill, but they could be in a much worse spot.

Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com. On Twitter.com: @MLoftus_Ledger.